Fletcher: He called the 2011 ordinance a step in the right direction but laments that city leaders haven’t gotten the job done despite years of civic debate. He also supports a more restrictive approach.

“It needs to be clear. It needs to be restrictive to just those Prop. 215 uses in terms of medicinal and we want to make sure it stays out of the neighborhoods,” Fletcher said.

Aguirre: He didn’t have a position on the 2011 ordinance, but he said the city has to take action on a new law that is in conformity with law enforcement agencies who don’t want to see the drug abused. Aguirre said he wants the ordinance as strict as possible to get buy-in from the law-enforcement community.

“It’s essential that we implement it for humanitarian reasons,” Aguirre said. “And as a former prosecutor… I will work with the prosecutors so that it complies with their concerns, but I will do that on a very expedited basis. I don’t want to see anyone suffering any longer than they have to.”

Infrastructure

There’s perhaps no quality-of-life issue that draws complaints more than the state of San Diego’s roads, which have noticeably deteriorated during the fiscal crisis of the past decade. The city pegged its infrastructure backlog of street, sewer and building projects at $898 million in November 2011, but that tally has likely soared beyond $1 billion. Currently the city doesn’t even pay enough annually to keep the condition of streets at their status quo. City leaders continue to search for a solution.

Alvarez: He said he would explore new sources of funding, such as voter-approved general obligation bonds, and possible public-private partnerships to aggressively tackle the backlog. One such partnership would be GrowSD — a new entity created by Alvarez that would be focused on spending federal and state dollars to spark investment and revitalization in San Diego’s neighborhoods. In addition, Alvarez pledges to dedicate a portion of any new tax revenue to infrastructure projects in a clear and transparent method.

“Our infrastructure backlog didn’t develop overnight and it will take many years to address all of our deferred projects,” Alvarez said. “As mayor, I will explore new sources of funding. … Bonding while interest rates are low, and building while construction costs are relatively low will take careful planning, but will pay dividends in avoided and reduced maintenance costs.”

Faulconer: He has called for a citywide inventory of current infrastructure needs, putting a single city department in charge of all projects, spending $900 million on projects over the next five years, and increasing transparency by forcing departments to disclose real-time budget information and data on city projects. He also pledged to put 50 percent of all new city revenues toward infrastructure.

“One of the most important things we’re going to do is invest in our roads, in our streets. It affects everything we do — our quality of life, our businesses,” Faulconer said.

Fletcher: In the first 100 days, he plans to assess neighborhood and infrastructure needs. Fletcher said he will prioritize projects and then develop a funding plan. He’ll also appoint a neighborhood investment director to oversee the effort and ensure that projects are done efficiently and according to schedule to avoid falling behind.